Looking for a quick lunch after finals Steph remembered the little
drive-in stand right up the road which we had passed a couple of
weeks ago. We made a couple of turns and pulled into one of the open
spots facing the building. There were quite a few cars with trays
protruding from their windows and everyone looked pretty happy. Our
“hop” sidled over to the car. She was much slower than you
would find at Swenson’s, but she was
wonderfully friendly and helpful. -professionalism throughout our
stay.

Lots Of Options

I told her we hadn’t been there before and she made some
recommendations, told us some things about the place. Through
her we found out the place has been serving for sixty years and they
make their own coney sauce, root beer and sauerkraut. We also
learned they use an air fryer, not for sixty years I’m sure, but it
gives foods the texture of being fried with significantly less
grease.

We ordered chicken strips, tots, a coney dog, cheese fries, a polish
sausage with kraut and mustard and root beer. The tots, chicken and
fries were fine but nothing memorable. There isn’t a lot of em but
the serving sizes are pretty standard for drive ins, with everything
served in waxed paper or foil. The air frying does make things a
little healthier but it seems you do lose some of that texture and
delicious brownness that comes with a dunk in the bubbles. I would
probably adjust easily to keep the fat down but it would be really
hard to pick them over duck fat fries.

Drive-In Service

Fries Were Boring, Even With Cheese...

...As Were Cheeseless Tots

Are These From The BK Lounge? Chicken Fingers

There were some memorable offerings and all for good reasons. The
coney sauce is simple and really tasty. It reminds me most of Amy
Tucker’s sloppy joe mix…its been a long time since the blue tip
extravaganzas. Plenty of small textured beef, tangy tomato and a
hint of sweet worked well with the dog and was in a nice proportion
to the dog and the bun. Where Netty’s was more single note and
overly loaded with the coney mix, B-K’s all came together in a
satisfying way. The polish sausage was also pretty good but was made
much better by their sauerkraut and a splash of mustard. The kraut
was darkly colored and had a sharp tang which stood up to the juicy
fattiness of the sausage.

The belle of the ball was easily the root beer. There is a
place in our hometown we will visit
again soon for comparison. They also make their own root beer and
I’ve only tried it once, not just because they are only open in the
summer but because it was a thin and insipid attempt at the
beverage. B-K’s is redolent with all things root beer plus a slap of
vanilla which was delicious. It may not be the best food in the
world but it is good, served by nice people, and convenient. We’ll
be back.